AI Article Synopsis
- Plague is a deadly disease caused by bacteria and mainly spread by fleas from rodents.
- In a study in Uganda, researchers compared villages with and without human plague cases, finding higher rat-human contact and flea infestations in villages with cases.
- Risk factors for plague included sleeping on straw mats, storing food and garbage in or near huts, and allowing dogs in sleeping areas, whereas control villages showed better practices like maintaining roofs and growing certain crops.
- The study suggests that improving local hygiene practices could help prevent plague outbreaks.
Article Abstract
Plague is an often fatal, primarily flea-borne rodent-associated zoonosis caused by Yersinia pestis. We sought to identify risk factors for plague by comparing villages with and without a history of human plague cases within a model-defined plague focus in the West Nile Region of Uganda. Although rat (Rattus rattus) abundance was similar inside huts within case and control villages, contact rates between rats and humans (as measured by reported rat bites) and host-seeking flea loads were higher in case villages. In addition, compared with persons in control villages, persons in case villages more often reported sleeping on reed or straw mats, storing food in huts where persons sleep, owning dogs and allowing them into huts where persons sleep, storing garbage inside or near huts, and cooking in huts where persons sleep. Compared with persons in case villages, persons in control villages more commonly reported replacing thatch roofing, and growing coffee, tomatoes, onions, and melons in agricultural plots adjacent to their homesteads. Rodent and flea control practices, knowledge of plague, distance to clinics, and most care-seeking practices were similar between persons in case villages and persons in control villages. Our findings reinforce existing plague prevention recommendations and point to potentially advantageous local interventions.
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|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4047728 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.14-0035 | DOI Listing |
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